financial stability

Divorce is always an emotional and difficult experience regardless of the reason or the age of the two individuals who are experiencing this wrenching event in their lives.

Overall the national average of divorcing couples has declined over the years but what is odd, is that it has tripled for those couples over the age of 65 since the 1990’s.

The reasons for senior or “gray’ divorce vary but some of the more common ones is that after raising their children for many years, they began to see themselves as simply parents and no longer friends or lovers.

Then when the adult children leave the home and start their own lives, an older couple may discover that they no longer have any shared interests as they have grown apart over this period of time.

The financial implications of a “gray’ divorce can be quite complicated in that any assets and or retirement funds could end up being liquidated with disastrous consequences for the couple and their future financial stability and security.

I am not a financial advisor and certainly not a Divorce attorney and not qualified to provide any guidance in this matter and it’s best for couples to always seek professional advice when it comes to something as serious as a divorce and splitting up their assets.

However if there is equity in the home, it may be adequate enough to utilize a Reverse mortgage as a tool to either give half of it to one of the divorcing party’s and or buy them out in exchange for the other party receiving any investments they may have accrued together.

But a property settlement would have to be created by their mutual Divorce attorneys to make a final determination as to how all assets are to be divided.

Well, many Americans are very concerned about this probability because they simply don’t have a retirement plan or never bothered to set one up for themselves and now they are facing a scary future where they may not have enough money to sustain their lives.

The 2016 study that was done by the Harris Pole for Northwestern Mutual took a very serious look at the pending domestic crisis America is facing and not surprisingly, those who are approaching retirement ( If they can retire) and those that have already retired, are worried about running out of money.

In a previous post, I shared the first part of an article that discusses this study and due to it’s length I will share part of it in this post, with the rest of it to follow.

“Life expediencies continue to climb and that’s a good thing, however, Americans are increasingly less confident that their savings will last through retirement. Roughly two-thirds of survey respondents believe there is a chance they will outlive their savings, with 34% of this bunch saying the likelihood of this happening is 51% or better.

“The prospect of an extended retirement in an environment of diminishing safety nets makes it even more essential that your financial plan is flexible enough to stretch as long as needed,” said Rebekah Barsch, vice president of planning for Northwester Mutual, in a written statement.

The 2016 study results not only highlight the vast unpreparedness of American adults, but also underscores the need to look beyond traditional funding streams like Social Security to bolster retirement savings.”

Of course, as a Reverse Loan Consultant I know how valuable the FHA loan program is for preserving wealth and providing emotional security, but that is another topic.

People need to simply become educated about their benefits and why they should consider using them as part of a retirement plan.

American seniors do and it seems to me that this figure keeps growing each month. It wasn’t too long ago when it was at $ 5.5 trillion dollars and I thought, that was a lot of money to have in one’s home.

Reverse loans have been around for a number of years and as we head into the void of a lack of retirement funds that most people simply don’t have enough of…..there is a looming question as to how all of their needs will be managed as they age.

The Street recently published an article about this massive amount of equity that seniors have available to them to supplement their retirement, but many are still afraid of the HECM FHA loan program and do not see it as an option to extend their retirement savings.

Here is the first part of the article.

The Street: Education is Key When Discussing Reverse Mortgages

September 5th, 2016 | by Alana Stramowski Published in News, Reverse Mortgage

With the amount of equity floating around in the U.S., reverse mortgages could be a good a good financial decision in the right circumstance, explains a recent article on The Street.
There is $12.5 trillion in home equity in America and about $14 trillion in retirement assets, according to the article. Reverse mortgages could be used by homeowners 62 and older to help supplement Social Security and other existing income sources like medical expenses, long vacations or even purchase a new home.
A perk about the product that the public was often confused about in the past is that homeowners will never relinquish title to their homes. “The reverse mortgage enables seniors with insufficient income to tap their home equity without selling their domicile,” the article says. “Moreover, the income can make it possible for a retiree to deal taking Social Security payments in favor of larger payments down the road.”

At last, I am posting the final section of an article that was recently published in the Journal of Personal Finance. It was very long and I could not share it in it’s entirety on this site.

So I broke it up into seven parts and this is the last bit of it. Overall, it’s in interesting commentary on comparing using the Tenure payment option from a Reverse loan in lieu of receiving payments from an annuity.

New Research Shows Financial Planning Value of Tenure Reverse Mortgages
Posted By Jason Oliva On March 3, 2016

“Because of the assumption that withdrawals are taken from savings before tapping the line of credit, the line of credit option depletes savings but leaves some home value. Tenure, on the other hand, depletes home value more and leaves remaining savings.

“Overall, the tenure option does somewhat better than the LOC in terms of both consumption and bequest measures,” researchers state. “This reflects tenure not depleting savings and thereby leaving more money invested in stocks, the potentially highest return asset.”

Because the tenure option pays out a higher rate than the SPIA, the study indicates it is necessary to allocate $238,061 for SPIA purchase, compared to the $201,174 borrowing limit used to generate tenure payments.

The SPIA option leaves median consumption about the same, but does reduce consumption risk, according to researchers who note that under the SPIA home value is preserved for late-in-life needs or a bequest.

“If the goal is to maximize consumption without a bequest concern, the reverse mortgage options win out over the SPIA,” the study states. “If bequests are important, the decision requires evaluating tradeoffs between consumption and bequest.”

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Dear Lorraine, You began the process for me, the process of breathing again. We were both working our display booths at the Ventura County buildings; mine with the County Fire Department and you represented your advisory company. As you descibed the highlights of a Reverse mortgage to me, it dawned on me that this could be the answer to my problem, ie., how could I pay for my wife's medical condition. After that lucky meeting, I checked out your company & found out it was doing business with FHA & apparently doing so without trouble. I checked out 3 other similar agencies, all with similar track records. So- I stayed with my original choice and didn't regret it for a single moment. So I thank you once again and strongly recommend your company to any other seekers of a compassionate and willing helper. Sincerely, Raymond A. O'Grady Newbury Park, CA
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